Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
State tests putting aluminum in lake to foil cyanobacteria blooms
Last month I wrote about research indicating we have underestimated the effect on creating cyanobacteria blooms made by nutrients, especially phosphorus, lurking in mud at the bottom of lakes. (Here it is, if you've forgotten.) Well, the state is trying to do...
Centrifugal governor shows up on another N.H. seal
Regular readers know that the seal/flag of the city of Manchester includes a centrifugal governor, one of the inventions that made the Industrial Revolution possible. It's the device with weighted arms hinged to a vertical spindle that rise or fall as the central axis...
This blog can now get a driver’s license
Happy birthday to me: The Granite Geek blog launched 15 years ago. I'm not sure exactly when it started, since almost everything before 2015 has disappeared in a haze of changing software/servers/owners. But we'll pretend it's this week. That's the original logo up...
Maine’s 100-Mile Wilderness is now an International Dark Sky Park
Last year, Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument became the east's first "Dark Sky Sanctuary" (as I noted at the time). Now the nearby-ish 100-Mile Wilderness, infamous to Appalachian Trail through-hikers, has received a similar designation from the...
How dry was it last summer? This dry
As New Hampshire teeters on the edge of another drought (most of the state is "abnormally dry" right now), the above graphic shows what led us here: 2020 was really dry. This is chart of the flow rate of Smith River in Bristol over the course of spring and summer. The...
If you think it’s a really bad year for ticks, you’re not alone. But are you right?
The online forum Reddit is infamous for some foul-minded communities, but earlier this month somebody posted a photo to its New Hampshire section that shook even hardened online veterans to the core. What was this appalling sight? It was a toilet seat in an outhouse;...
Solar eclipse added to Concord’s unique solar system walk-around
There’s something new in a parking lot on South Main Street. It’s a moon; specifically, our moon. “It works quite well, I think, that post with the moon on it. It really lets you see what happens … in an eclipse,” said Rob Kramer, who got permission to put up the tiny...
N.H. gets first large, grid-tied battery storage site
What I believe is the first utility-scale electricity-storage project in New Hampshire is getting turned on: a 2.45 MW battery alongside a solar farm in Moultonborough. A Here's the announcement from New Hampshire Electric Cooperative: The 2.45 megawatt (MW) / 4.9 MwH...
State and feds differ about bitcoin kiosk regulation
In an update on the bitcoin money-laundering charge against Ian Freeman, the Union-Leader points to apparent discrepancy between how New Hampshire and federal regulators look at bitcoin kiosks, which are central to the case: In 2017, the New Hampshire Banking...
No more lead aprons during X-rays
(Too bad - I kind of liked them. They're like the weighted blankets people use to feel comfortable sleeping.) Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health will no longer use heavy lead aprons to shield patients from radiation during X-rays because they have been found to provide little...
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